Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Worcestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 1 SC441514 Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who have had adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and complex behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2023 Full Good 21/04/2021 Full Good 18/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children are living at the home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved into semi-independent living. Despite the child’s placement ending, the child experienced a positive move to their new home with continued support from staff. Another child has benefited from a positive experience of moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child continues to make progress in all areas of their health, education and social and psychological well-being. For example, the child is now able to access bigger and busier places, their school attendance has improved and they can better regulate their emotions. Despite being new to the home, the other child is also showing signs of progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team promotes and supports children’s education. Through achievable incentives and support, one child has significantly improved their attendance at school. Following a period of not engaging with education, another child, who has recently moved to the home, has successfully attended home tutoring and has passed some exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are well supported by staff to spend valuable time with their families and people that matter to them. When appropriate, family members are welcomed to the home. This helps to maintain and strengthen relationships. The inspector received positive feedback from families during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s voices are heard. The staff ensure that the children participate in a weekly house meeting where they can share their thoughts and make requests. As a result, the children enjoy their choice of food and activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are good advocates for the children and have positive relationships with professionals. This helps children to get the support that they need and ensures that the plans for children’s care are realistic.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are provided with a welcoming, well-maintained home. There is a new fitted kitchen, dedicated gaming room and lots of outside space for play. One child has been busy growing fruit, vegetables and sunflowers. Children have also built a bug house with the staff to encourage wildlife into the garden. The children have personalised their bedrooms to their individual tastes.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are well aware of the risks posed to and by children. The children have individual placement plans and risk assessments that clearly outline potential risks and the action staff should take to help reduce risk. The children’s plans are updated and reviewed on a regular basis. The staff manage risk well by following agreed protocols and working closely with the placing authorities to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 4 Children are supported to take age-appropriate risk. For example, one child is being supported to use a mobile phone safely. There is a clear policy in place to ensure that the staff check and monitor the child’s phone usage.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff support the children to better understand their emotions. One child is successfully learning to regulate their own emotions. Through the support and guidance of staff, the child is now able to calm quickly and reflect on the reasons for their behaviour.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children say they feel safe. The children spoke positively to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home and the staff that care for them. Family members and professionals are positive about how staff promote children’s safety.

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good

The registered manager post is vacant. Senior managers are actively trying to appoint to the post. In the interim, the responsible individual and deputy manager are maintaining oversight of the home and children’s care.

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good

The responsible individual has demonstrated their commitment to the home, and there have been some positive changes. For example, there is now a system to help staff understand children’s progress. However, a previous requirement was not met, and further shortfalls have been identified.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision and training. However, despite this, some staff are unclear about their roles and responsibilities. For example, some staff are not clear about the expectations in respect of recording and report writing. Some shift leaders lack confidence in decision-making.

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good

Managers are not consistent in ensuring that staff routinely sign to confirm that they have reviewed updated documents. This means that important information and changes about the plans for children’s care could be missed.

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good

There are shortfalls in the manager’s monitoring systems. For example, the manager was not aware that an updated statement of purpose had not been sent to Ofsted. Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to —

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The specifically relates to managers ensuring that staff are clear about practice expectations and that managers improve the monitoring of the home to assure themselves that staff are discharging their responsibilities as expected. 31 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 31 August 2023

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 6 Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, 43 Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Stacie Sharpe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC441514 8 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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